The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for measuring and/or monitoring effectiveness of advertising. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and a method for monitoring and/or measuring effectiveness of advertisements, particularly on-line advertising viewed on a computer of a user of the internet.
It is, of course, generally known to advertise specific products and/or services offered by a given company. One form of advertising growing in popularity is advertising via the Internet. Many companies purchase what are generally known in the industry as “banners” that a consumer may “click” on to reveal additional information about the product and/or services advertised by the company.
Banners are generally designed to invite and/or incite individuals to click on the banner thereby revealing additional information regarding the products and/or services of the company. However, the impact that a banner has on an individual, such as a consumer who has viewed the banner, is often difficult to determine or otherwise evaluate. That is, companies currently do not have mechanisms to evaluate the impact that, for example, a banner placed as an on-line advertisement, for example, has on an individual who has viewed the banner and has not necessarily “clicked on” the banner.
The reaction and determination of how consumers react to on-line marketing in advertising is rather limited and is generally limited to consumers' behaviors where consumers have “clicked on” the advertisement. However, a missing piece of data is how people feel about or react to what they have seen or how that exposure to what they have seen has affected their attitude and will motivate them in the future. Particularly, the reaction or influence that an on-line based advertisement has on an individual is important to evaluate to determine the value of the advertisement.
With the increased use of the Internet, it can be generally shown that approximately one percent (1%) of all banner advertisements are currently being “clicked on”. However, information as to why individuals did not click on the banner or whether the banner has had any effect on the consumer who did click on the banner have not been addressed. Moreover, information and/or data as to why the ninety percent (90%) of the individuals who clicked on the banner did not follow through with a purchase has also not been addressed.
In addition, on-line research is also becoming more and more popular. In fact, in Sep. 17, 1998, Digital Marketing Services published a report that indicates that ninety-four percent (94%) of consumers feel that on-line surveys are more convenient than traditional research methods. Moreover, that same article states that the same people participating in traditional forms of market research are now engaging in on-line surveys. On-line surveys are also capturing those not willing to participate in other more traditional survey methods.
On-line research is becoming more popular, and three main benefits are driving the increased usage of on-line research. One benefit is that on-line research is faster, less expensive and more versatile than traditional market research. Moreover, internet advertising will likely increase in importance to advertisers' bottom lines thereby underscoring the necessity of the evaluation of its effectiveness. Finally, traditional research is experiencing declining response rates and consumers have indicated that they prefer the on-line method of research.
A need, therefore, exists for providing a system and a method for monitoring and measuring effectiveness of on-line advertising including monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of those advertisements, particularly on those individuals who have viewed, for example, a banner, but have not necessarily “clicked on” the banner as compared to individuals not exposed to the banner or other advertisement.